AI is accelerating many parts of executive-level hiring, though other parts remain constrained by distinctly human obstacles.
Recruiters say homing in on suitable candidates can account for as much as half the work in high-stakes C-suite job searches. AI can speed up that process by mapping the market, surfacing names, combing through years of internal notes, and suggesting unconventional talent pools.
"The identification of candidates is going to become commoditized," said Marty Parker, CEO of Waterstone Human Capital, an executive search and culture advisory firm.
Meanwhile, other parts of the recruiting process remain slow because they still depend heavily on people, from coordinating and conducting interviews with busy candidates to exercising judgment, building consensus, and persuading an executive to make a move.
"All of those things are irreducibly human," said Umesh Ramakrishnan, chief strategy officer of executive search firm Kingsley Gate. Now, he added, AI "takes care of everything else."
What AI can do
Waterstone saw AI's potential at the start of an ongoing search for an executive to oversee a jewelry company's high-tech manufacturing operation. The firm had initially focused on recruiting from other jewelry businesses when the company's proprietary AI tool suggested looking to the dental tech industry, where similar precision machinery is used to make veneers, crowns, and other tiny, intricate products.
"Who would consider dental manufacturing with jewelers?" Parker said. "You just wouldn't. It's not obvious."
Search firms are also using AI to mine years of interview notes to identify prospective candidates.
Matthew Siegel, a principal at Korn Ferry, said a consultant might recall being impressed by someone at a particular company but forget the person's name or what stood out. AI can retrieve the likely match and the earlier observations behind that impression, he said.
"It's just a terrific example of AI as a force multiplier, just making us more effective," Siegel said.
Beyond candidate research, AI is helping to automate the administrative work surrounding a search.
Nathan Clauss, CEO and managing partner of tech-focused search firm Talent SDK, said recruiters are increasingly building their own AI tools that integrate with internal messaging and applicant-tracking systems, organize information across platforms, and eliminate manual steps. For example, AI can read candidate emails and note why someone is or isn't interested in a role.
By reducing those repetitive tasks, Clauss said AI has allowed his sourcing team to accomplish two to three times as much in a day as they might have several years ago.
"I haven't fired any of my sourcers," he said. "They've just gotten way more productive."
AI is informing later stages of a search, too. Waterstone's AI tool was trained on 23 years of data about organizational culture and executive hiring. Parker said it can suggest interview questions, presentations, and exercises designed to reveal how finalists think and behave. The technology doesn't, however, evaluate candidates' performance.
"It gives us the experience," Parker said of the model. "We then apply our judgment."
What still takes people
For all the time AI can save on research and administrative work, recruiters said it hasn't altered the parts of executive search that require interpretation, trust, and persuasion.
Case in point: As more executives claim AI expertise, recruiters still have to determine for themselves whose experience is genuine. Jeff Markham, a partner at executive search firm Parker Remick, said that may involve contacting a candidate's references and other industry sources to verify that the individual still "gets their hands on the keyboard."
Ramakrishnan said assessing a C-suite candidate can require observing the person outside a formal interview. A recruiter may notice nonverbal behavior that would never surface in a résumé or prepared response.
"Only a human being can sit with the CEO candidate at dinner and watch for the nonverbal things that he or she does," Ramakrishnan said.
AI hasn't transformed the courtship, either. Winning over a candidate still requires understanding the company, the opportunity, and what might motivate them to leave their current post, said Mike Doud, executive vice president, North America, at The Barton Partnership, an executive search firm.
Recruiters need to study candidates' careers as well as the cultures, bureaucracies, and internal politics of the companies where they have worked, he said. Recruiters also need a similarly nuanced understanding of the client to determine whether the client and the candidates they are recommending for top jobs are a match.
Recruiters still have to "sell the opportunity," Doud said, because an executive move is "a life-changing event," not simply another job.
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Sarah E. Needleman covers leadership and the workplace for Business Insider.Previously, she was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal for more than two decades, covering technology companies, entrepreneurship, and recruiting.In 2022, Sarah received an honorable mention with WSJ colleagues for their coverage of workplace misconduct at Activision Blizzard from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.Sarah graduated from Rutgers University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She lives with her husband, daughter, and fur child (an Australian labradoodle) in northern New Jersey.Have feedback or a tip?Contact Sarah on Signal at saraheneedleman.13, or email her at [email protected].Some of Sarah’s scoops, exclusives, and most-read articles include: 'Entitled,' 'complacent,' and 'sloppy': Inside the workplace tension at the world's largest HR organizationShe won a religious exemption from using AI at work. The Pope's remarks could fuel similar appeals.The CEO behind 'Grand Theft Auto' doesn't drink, smoke, or play video gamesPTO, parental leave, pensions: Even the most prized benefits are on the chopping blockGoodbye, middle managers. Hello, 'player-coaches' and 'org leads.'She used to manage 3 employees. Now she oversees 24. Welcome to the age of the megamanager.America's new sink-or-swim era is hereInside the AI divide roiling video game giant Electronic ArtsMeet your new office bestie: ChatGPT
